Dozens are set to take to the streets of Sioux Falls Saturday as part of a national push to reform gun laws.

Demonstrators plan to rally downtown in conjunction with a national effort to remember 17 people killed last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The local movement comes just over a week after Sioux Falls students staged walkouts and similar demonstrations in remembrance of the Florida massacre.

Courtney Merchant, 17, participated in the Lincoln High School assembly aimed at memorializing the Parkland shooting victims. At that point, she said she hoped to take part in the broader march in Sioux Falls.

But a week ahead of the scheduled national demonstration, no one had organized the event, Merchant said. So she and her mother Pam Merchant decided to take on the task.

"It’s time. We’ve mourned the loss of way too many young people in this country," Pam Merchant said. "I think we do have to stand up for what we believe. We need change. We need sensible gun laws."

The state's Republican congressional delegation has voiced support for school safety legislation and funding aimed at setting up threat assessment systems, accepting anonymous tips and implementing security technology as well as additional security personnel.

"If you can layer your defenses in schools, you make it less of a soft target for bad people," Sen. Mike Rounds told reporters Thursday.

In the South Dakota Statehouse, lawmakers shot down proposals that would've allowed certain firearm owners to conceal carry a pistol without a permit, provide an opportunity for some felons to carry a firearm and require entrants into areas posted as "firearm free zones" to pass through metal detectors or be monitored by security officers.

The South Dakota Legislature is set to wrap up its 2018 session on Monday as lawmakers consider possible vetoes and future work. Legislative leaders on Wednesday said gun control legislation was unlikely to come up on Monday, and they'd not heard a pressing need for reform.

What is the march about?

The march at the national and local levels is about ending gun violence, particularly in schools. Leaders hope to forge a political conversation about gun control.

Who started this?

Survivors of the Parkland shooting and parents of the students killed there led the push for a national march. Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that advocates for gun control, is also supporting the event.

The central march will take place in Washington, D.C. with more than 800 other demonstrations to take place across the world.

Where will the walk be held?

Demonstrators will meet outside Carnegie Town Hall (235 West 10th Street) at 10 a.m. Saturday. They will then walk north on South Dakota Avenue, to the courthouse. From there, marchers will turn east, crossing North Main Avenue and North Phillips Avenue before ending at the green space near Falls Park west for concluding speeches.

Will there be a counter-protest?

Peter Pischke, a candidate for Sioux Falls School Board, on Facebook said he'd hold a demonstration parallel to the march Saturday advocating against gun control. He advocated for a peaceful counterprotest.

How can I follow the national march on social media?

Supporters of the March for Our Lives demonstration will Tweet using their motto #NeverAgain as well as #MarchForOurLives.